In Cold Blood
by DreameEater
Summary: Being a hero has always been hard. But for the Dex Holders, it's about to become a hell of a lot worse. What they aren't expecting is for one of their own to turn on them. When a suspicious chain of deaths begins, it's a sure sign trouble is ahead. You can't trust anyone in this game of death. One wrong move and it's game over. Will anyone survive?
1. Snow

The bitterly cold winds clawed at the cruel, jagged peaks of the mountain. The blizzards relentlessly tore into the landscape, cruel and unforgiving. The howling of the wind sounded like a tormented animal, crying out in desperate pain. Other than the furious sounds of the vicious weather, there was no sound. The mountain was almost completely silent.

No life dared to brave the elements and scale the peaks, which was entirely the sane option. If one was to attempt to climb the infamously dangerous Mt. Silver, they'd surely end up dead. Maybe they'd be caught in an avalanche. Perhaps they'd fall and shatter every bone in their body. Maybe they'd freeze to death. Whatever the cause, it would surely be painful.

The mountain was not, though, entirely desolate, even as the deadly storm attacked. Its wild inhabitants- Pokémon of all kinds- huddled together in the rough network of caves that carved a dark path through Mt. Silver. And somewhere in the depths of the mountain was a sole human being. He was someone who should be used to storms like this by now, as he had frequently ascended the mountain for training. Those who knew him could only stare at the storm and hope he'd adapted well enough to this. Nevertheless, good at survival or not, he was needed back in civilisation. And so, someone had been sent to search for him.

The Exchanger stood at the peak of the mountain, the merciless winds threatening to throw him off like a ragdoll. He stood his ground and marched on forwards, gritting his teeth and vowing to never do this again. He'd only been sent to search for Red because nobody else was available. Blue, Green. Yellow, Gold and Crys, all the other people who were nearby, had all been busy with one thing or another. And so, Blue had asked him to go and find the Fighter.

Red had not made contact with the outside world for several months. Normally, this wouldn't be much of a concern to any of the Dex Holders. Red knew how to take care of himself and had devised a selection of tactics to keep himself and his Pokémon safe while on Mt. Silver. Once, he'd not appeared for around six months. When he did come back, he was windswept, exhausted, but alive. So there was no threat that he would be harmed. But the annual Dex Holder's meeting was coming up next week and Green had stressed that it was compulsory attendance. Every Dex Holder so far would be coming. It would be the second year with the Sinnoh and Unova Dex Holders and would be a chance for all of them to discuss important stuff, like protecting the population, collecting data and ensuring that the next generation of Dex Holders would be well-informed.

Silver personally wouldn't have wanted to bother with it, but since he was being forced into it, he didn't have much more choice. His memory returned to yesterday and his conversation with Blue. He'd come to visit her, just to check up on her, and it had resulted in him being dragged into something again. He couldn't step out- this was _Blue_ asking him.

"Silvy... you have to go search for Red!" She'd been pouting again, trying to guilt-trip him.

Silver had raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Why?" he'd asked. "Couldn't Green go? Or Gold?" Or anyone else, really.

"Everyone's busy." Blue had argued, shrugging. "I'm... shopping for important items, Yellow is looking after a buncha Pokémon, Green's in his gym for once and Gold 'n' Crys are doing whatever they do. You're the only one available."

"Isn't he answering his Pokégear?"

"Nooo! You know Red! He'll never answer when he's busy training."

"Why does he have to return anyway, then, if he's so busy?"

"Because!" Blue had sat back, suddenly looking (slightly) more serious. "The annual meeting of Dex Holders is coming up and all need to be present! Especially Red. He's supposed to be a rolemodel, being the Champion and all."

"Ugh... I suppose I'll have to attend, too..."

"Yep! But first you gotta bring Red down from Mt. Silver! ...Heh, the mountain's even got the same name as you!"

Blue had grinned at this, evidently finding it far more amusing than Silver did. The conversation had progressed from there. It was mainly Silver attempting to protest and Blue refuting his claims. Eventually, the younger boy relented and set off that same hour, wrapped in several layers of wool and utterly exasperated.

It hadn't taken long for him to reach his destination, but it had taken a great length of time to ascend the mountain. He'd been attacked several times by vicious wild Pokémon (which Weavile had taken care of pretty quickly), lost his way a couple of times and had to stop for rests to ensure his energy didn't deplete to the point where he allowed himself to freeze to death. Finally, after what seemed like hours, he'd managed to navigate the vast network of caves and make it to the peak, where Red should be. He expected to hear or see some sign of Red, either here or along the way. But he'd seen no crumpled food packets, or discarded Pokéballs. And there was no noise of battle like he'd expect. Even though there was a terrible storm raging on, Red wouldn't cease his training. Perhaps the wind was just too loud to hear anything.

He stood, shivering despite the vast amount of clothing he was swathed in (courtesy of Blue), knee-deep in snow and wondering whether he'd freeze to death. He trudged forwards, slowly but surely, across the peak. The area had begun to darken and the first signs of dusk streaked the skies, so he knew he had to be quick. He quickened his pace, trying his best to traverse the thick snow. There was no sign of Red. Perhaps he'd sheltered himself in some sort of cave and Silver had just missed him. It would certainly be the logical option, but that wasn't the route Red usually decided to take. He had to be around here somewhere.

He looked around a bit harder, until he found something that made him freeze in his tracks- not literally, of course. A small trail of sticky crimson through the snow. Scratches in the now bare rock. The snowfall had been disturbed. In fact, most of it seemed to have gone. There was some fresh snow dust coating it, but even that couldn't hide that something was up. Silver cautiously made his way to the edge and realised that part of the rock had broken away from its place. He peered over the edge and found a massacre.

The aftermath of an avalanche covered the ruined side of the mountain and, without looking much further, he knew Red was underneath the wreckage.

This was not an instinctive guess but a deduction. He could only guess that Red had been caught in it and attempted to hoist himself back up the mountain, catching his hand as he did on a sharp bit of rock and scratching the surface of the peak in the process. Hence the blood and scratch marks. But that was not what had led him to his conclusion.

There was a small ledge jutting out of the mountain, almost buried in snow. He sent out his Honchcrow and managed to lower himself down. Returning his Pokémon, he went to examine what he'd seen further, hoping that he'd been wrong. Stepping over the pile of snow that obscured the ledge and trying not to slip, he edged along. And then promptly stopped, this time with shock rising through him.

There, covered in a layer of frost, was a bloodied, severed arm.

He knelt down, gritting his teeth and fighting back the revulsion that hit him. He reached out a gloved hand, unsure of whether to examine the mauled body part or not. It would probably be difficult to identify whether it really was Red's, but since he was sure there was nobody else on the mountain, he could make a logical assumption.

He stood up again, mouth set in a grim line. He'd seen death before, once or twice, but it harder when it was somebody you'd known. He wondered how he could tell the others. Admittedly, he was shaking a little bit. But really, he told himself, this was just a freak accident, there was nothing to worry about...

Something warm and sticky dripped onto the back of his neck. Instinctively, he whirled around, almost falling off the unstable ledge as he did. He steadied himself and turned around properly. And when he saw the inscription on the roughly hewn surface of the mountain, he swore aloud. Because painted onto the rockface was a bloody 'R', the eternal symbol of Team Rocket and a sure sign that nothing good was ahead.

* * *

**A/N: ...Did I do okay?**

**Well, I have to go to class right now, so I guess I'll just leave y'all wondering what the heck is going on. Is Red dead? We just don't know.**

**Probably.**


	2. Reaction

It took Silver a further day to make it down Mt. Silver. The blizzards became so bad that he had to shield himself by hiding in an assortment of caves and crevices in the mountain. By the time he reached the base of the mountain, he almost felt close to collapsing, but pulled himself together as he journeyed through Viridian and the accompanying forest. He made it back to Pallet Town as the fiery sun rose up at the dawn of a new day, bathing the land in a strange, surreal light. After he'd got a fair distance away from the mountain, his journey thankfully became a lot easier, mainly due to the fact that the weather was much calmer and milder. As soon as he entered the town, he went to find Blue.

She was waiting for him as she promised she would, even though he'd taken longer than expected. She was talking excitedly on her Pokégear to someone, but quickly put it down when she saw Silver.

"Hi!" she greeted him brightly, grinning widely. "How was your trip? Everyone else is already here. Unova's Dex Holders were quicker than expected, considering they're so far away..."

"Blue-" he began, only to be cut off.

"Hey... where's Red, by the way?"

He couldn't bear to look at her, but steadied himself and began to explain.

There are times in life when the shock of an event is so great, it is hard for those it impacts to let out their emotions. There are times where there is nothing else to do but cry. The reactions of the Dex Holders when they first heard of Red's demise were scattered across this spectrum. Some of them- Sapphire, Gold, Pearl and Black, namely- were downright furious, immediately planning to do something about it- inevitably, this would turn out to be going after Team Rocket. Others were plain upset. Tears were shed and arguments were had. Silver wasn't surprised, frankly. Teenagers were susceptible to a wide variety of emotions.

After the initial uproar had calmed down a little (which still wasn't much), the police were called. The next few hours were a blur of interviews, investigations and coffee. It was hard to recall precisely what had happened. By the end, most of the Dex Holders were thoroughly exhausted. All fourteen remaining Dex Holders sat in the police station's waiting room in varying states of boredom. It was oddly silent for a normally energetic group. There were a few half-hearted words exchanged, but not much else. It wasn't over quite yet, however. A small, mousy woman entered the waiting room.

"We need to speak to you to relay some information," she began, then as the group began to stand, hurriedly added: "But just a few of you. The only room free is too small for too many people."

A few muttered words were whispered among the Dex Holders as they elected three of their number to attend this discussion. Eventually, the Johto trio slowly stood up.

"Okay, please follow me." the woman said shortly, and lead them down a shadowy, bland corridor to a solid grey door.

"Through here please."

They entered the room in silence.

"There are some things you should know about this investigation." the chief police inspector began as the three sat down in the uncomfortable plastic chairs provided. "For one thing, it would be far too dangerous at this point in time to carry out an investigation."

The heavy set man sat at the desk in front of them, glaring them down. His tone was cold and almost condescending. He clasped his hands in front of him on the table, shifting forward in his chair. At the confused looks on the Johto trio's faces, he continued.

"Mount Silver is already in its most dangerous season. From now, the snow storms will get increasingly worse. If we send a team up there, they may be injured or even killed."

"That's fair enough.." Crys responded, nodding in agreement, but it didn't seem genuine. "But... what about-"

"Of course," the police inspector began talking over her. "This means that we will be unable to locate the corpse for around two months."

"Two months?!" Gold bristled. "That's pretty disrespectful... you're gonna leave him to rot up there?"

The police inspector shot him a glare, taking a sip from the mug in front of him. "You have to understand that this is in the best interests of our team."

"We... can't really argue with that, Gold." Silver attempted to pacify the reckless boy. Gold sighed, but didn't make any other protest.

"There's another thing." The inspector's expression became all the more serious. All of a sudden, it seemed darker in the room. The noise from the outside seemed to muffle itself. It was like this room had suddenly become separate from reality to process what was about to occur. "The public cannot know anything about the death of the victim."

"Wait, what the- What do you mean, 'the public can't know'?" Gold leaned forwards, giving the police inspector an incredulous look. His tone was already beginning to get agitated. "Red was murdered! By Team Rocket! If the people don't find out, lives could be in danger, damn it!"

He slammed a fist on the desk in front of him to make a point. While Crys agreed with him, she couldn't help but roll her eyes at his hot-headed actions. This was not going to help their case. The police inspector was evidently unimpressed, as he let out an overly-dramatic sigh and aimed a cold glance at the Johto trio.

"If the public find out," he said slowly. "There will be mass panic. If Team Rocket are back and have this time managed to take down the most powerful trainer in Kanto… It means that this time, their plans could succeed. The population will react extremely badly to this-" At this, Gold let out a huff of rage and mumbled something along the lines of 'no shit, Sherlock.' The police inspector ignored him and continued. "-Which would give Team Rocket more reason to attack. They'd increase the terror amongst the population and give themselves even more of an advantage. Therefore, it is best that we keep the case under wraps until we are able to devise a plan to stop Team Rocket... It's what's best for the region."

"Best for the region?" Crys couldn't help but jump once more into the discussion. Admittedly, she was getting a bit worked up. "Red's been killed brutally and you want to protect the region? Right now, shouldn't the priority be working out who needs help? They could be after the rest of the Pokédex Holders, too! We need to be protecting ourselves, and our juniors, and making sure that our families are all safe..."

The police inspector shook his head. "The needs of the majority outweigh the needs of the few."

"So you're gonna let us die!" Gold snapped, shaking his head bitterly. He could hardly believe what he was hearing. He clenched his fists.

"That's not what I said."

"It's what you're implying!" The raven-haired Dex Holder got to his feet, his face flushing red as he got even more angered. "The region ain't in any danger yet and the people are safe until we prove otherwise!"

"The people are undoubtedly in danger. We've got to focus on defending them-"

"That's what you keep saying! Quit repeating yourself!"

Silver remained silent during the shouting match, thinking things through in the corner. It was true that they needed to protect themselves, but most of the Dex Holders were capable of that anyway. They wouldn't need police help. While he understood Crys and Gold's fears, he believed that if they tried to get assistance from the useless police, they would just be wasting time. It was best to try and find Team Rocket straight away. He shivered slightly. Was this the new plan- to kill the Dex Holders once and for all? It was certainly a sudden change in tactics. He couldn't bear to think about his own personal links with Team Rocket at this point in time. The thought of what his... father may be doing now made him feel sick.

"Keeping the whole affair secret from the public wouldn't help us. It isn't 'protecting' them from anything. It just makes them more at risk." Silver finally spoke up.

"What he said!" Gold shouted, glaring at the police inspector.

"I'm sorry, but that's just how it is. It has been the decision of every officer on this case." the police inspector continued, unperturbed. "And as of now, it is an offence for any one of you to inform the public of this case."

This was followed by a stream of furious arguments from the trio. Crys and Silver tried to disprove the inspector's claims, while Gold ended up letting out an angry stream of spluttering. The police inspector ignored them and got to his feet, a flicker of annoyance passing over his expression.

"This meeting has reached its conclusion. There is nothing more you can do at this point in time. If you wish to protect yourselves, then do so, but we will not help you. Additionally, we will know if you try to let the public know of this. You will be endangering them if you do." The police inspector headed out of the room, pausing at the door. "Have a good day."

With that, he was gone, leaving three seething Dex Holders in his wake.

"They're doing what?!"

"Is that even legal? God, I knew the Kanto law system was messed up, but…"

"Oh man, just let me near that slimy police inspector guy and I will beat him up so badly for ya-"

"Don't be so barbaric! You'll just get arrested. That won't help anyone."

Needless to say, the rest of the Dex Holders were hardly pleased at the revelation that were the police not helping them at all. The news that they were banned from informing the public of the imminent danger of Team Rocket caused even more of a ruckus. It took several minutes to calm everyone down to a point where the matter could be discussed. Even then, it was obvious that each Dex Holder was completely fuming. They'd already suffered in the face of tragedy and now they had to deal with the knowledge that they were on their own from now on.

The group of fourteen was gathered around the round pine-wood table in the hotel's bland, cheerless conference room, all with varying stages of worry, anger and fear in their expressions. The conversation of the last ten or so minutes had mainly consisted of the Johto trio explaining their experience to the others. It had taken longer than it should have done, as other members of their group kept interjecting with questions or exclamations of anger. The general consensus was that something had to be done, whatever the cost.

"So what if the police try to arrest us?" Emerald shouted across the table. "Stuff 'em! They can't stop us!"

"I have to agree..." Platinum spoke up. "We cannot simply allow innocent people to get hurt. Protecting the world and its population has always been a priority. By keeping them in ignorance, we are not helping them."

Blue shrugged. "I agree completely... But like we've already said, we have to think about Team Rocket's immediate plans. If they're after us Dex Holders first, we need to plan some way to defend ourselves."

There was a mumble of assent from the gathered group.

"There's another thing." Crys spoke up, slowly, as if unsure of whether to mention it. The Dex Holders were already worked up and she wouldn't be any help if she fuelled their anger. Nevertheless, it was important information and they needed to know. "The inspector also mentioned that it's too dangerous at this point in time to investigate Mt. Silver- the blizzards are getting worse. Send someone up there, they'll die... so Red's body won't be retrieved for a good few weeks."

"What the hell?!" Sapphire leapt to her feet, clenching her fists. Several of the others shuffled slightly away to avoid getting hit in the face. "Can't they get some sorta Pokémon that can withstand that? God dang, this police force is the worst! Are they even trying?"

"To be fair, at least they're not doing that on purpose, too. That'd be the final nail in the coffin-" Ruby began. A look of gradual horror appeared on his face. "Oh god, that's a very bad metaphor to be using at this point in time! I apologise entirely for my mistake!"

Sapphire rolled her eyes and muttered something rude under her breath. Ruby shot her a dark look and opened his mouth to say something. Before they could begin an argument again, Emerald banged his fist on the surface of the table. The pair looked up, falling silent.

"Both of you! Don't start now!" he shouted. "This ain't the time to be arguing, after all!"

"Fine, fine."

"Okay..."

"So... what should we do now?" White asked, biting her lip. She was picking at the hem of her shirt, tugging at loose threads nervously. "Do we just head back to our home regions?"

"No." Green shook his head. "It's far too risky. Even if Team Rocket doesn't act in Hoenn, Sinnoh and Unova, it's likely they have agents overseas. We need to stay together. For now, we'll just remain in this hotel and work out training plans. For now, just head to your rooms for the night. We can talk more in the morning."

Several of the Dex Holders got to their feet at this. The rest soon followed, shoving chairs awkwardly back under the table. Crys had to prod Gold, who was staring off into the distance and apparently not paying attention. It was an out of character action, but then everyone was too messed up by the latest events to keep up a normal facade.

"Goodnight, everyone, I guess."

"Yeah, goodnight."

They parted ways at the door, setting off down the corridors to their respective room. The atmosphere was heavy and strange. Outside, the winds howled a mournful song for the dead. The air was eerily silent.

The clocks kept ticking.


End file.
